The present invention relates to cameras having music playback capabilities. Specifically, the present invention concerns detection of a predominant musical beat to signal camera operation involving display and/or capture of images.
Certain current electronic cameras have displays for showing images captured and audio playback capabilities for playing music. These cameras are capable of downloading music in the MP3 format for playback. Electronic cameras are known which are capable of capturing still images and also a rapid sequence of images, known as burst capture.
While electronic cameras such as the Fuji 40i are known to display images and also playback audio, the two features are not synchronized. Detection of the beat in music is also known. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,930, titled xe2x80x9cApparatus For Synchronizing Playback Rates Of Music Sources,xe2x80x9d by Murakami, discloses xe2x80x9ca discriminating circuit operative in response to the music signal to produce a beat signal representative of extracted beats.xe2x80x9d However, no variation of displayed images is disclosed. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,470, titled xe2x80x9cAutomatic Playing Apparatus Which Controls Display Of Images In Association With Contents Of A Musical Piece And Method Thereof,xe2x80x9d by Tajima et al., describes a Karoke device which plays both music and images. The change of imagery is synchronized to the beat of the music, however, the music beats are pre-selected and are merely stored as performance data.
It is difficult and very time consuming to script, record, and edit a music video, without extensive production equipment and knowledge. The Hitachi MP-EG1A allows a user to capture still pictures, audio recordings, or video/audio segments and store them on a hard drive. This device provides the features of a camcorder, digital still camera, and audio recorder in one device. However, it is impossible to playback an audio recording while recording a new video recording. The Diamond RIO is a popular portable device for playing back digital audio files downloaded from the internet, using the MP3 format. Nevertheless, the Diamond RIO does not include image capture capability.
What is needed is a way for digital cameras to provide image capture, display, and music all at once, thus allowing a user to showcase her visual and audio creativity without requiring a lot of time, effort, or specialized talent.
The above need is met with a portable electronic image displayer and audio player including: a digital memory for storing digital images; a digital memory for storing an audio recording; a display for displaying stored digital images; a music analyzer for analyzing the stored audio recording and for determining when to display a sequence of stored digital images according to the stored audio recording; and an audio reproducer for playing the audio recording.
The need is further met by providing a method for displaying a plurality of digital images, including the steps of: reading a memory device containing a stored audio recording; analyzing the stored audio recording; determining a predominant recurring feature of the stored audio recording; generating a signal for each predominant recurring feature of the stored audio recording; playing the stored audio recording; reading a memory device containing the plurality of digital images; and displaying the plurality of digital images corresponding to the generated signal.